Web has changed the shape of 'reporting': Anyone, informed or not, can publish for the world [...]
Conventional rules of journalism dictate that information is verified before it is published; for better or worse, many Web sites don't follow the rules.
"There is an affirmative philosophy to the blogosphere that is very different from journalism - that philosophy is, in effect, publish first and verify later," said Tom Rosenstiel, director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism, an organization that works to raise journalistic standards.
The dangers of this are clear, he said, especially to public officials who have few ways to fight back when gossip about them is spread: Even denying a rumor legitimizes it and makes it fodder for the mainstream press. Some Web sites, then, degrade rather than further public dialogue, Rosenstiel said.
"It creates an opportunity for people who are not simply citizens but who are political dirty tricksters to use techniques that can only be considered Nixonian - to engage in smear, to engage in rumor campaigns - and there really isn't an upside to that for anybody," he said.
But Web-born news has its merits, said Jay Rosen, a journalism professor at New York University and the author of the blog Pressthink.org, and comparisons with traditional media aren't necessarily relevant. [...]
"The Internet has a different basis for strength, and that is openness."
